In the article “As Trump Visits Calexico, Calif., Residents Worry About Rising Border Wall Tension” by Max Rivlin-Nadler, President Trump’s visit brought more questions than answers. Since the beginning of his campaign, Trump has been vocal about building a wall to “keep” all immigrants out. He has said that the wall is going to be huge, tall, strong and that Mexico will provide the expenses. At the same time, he’s gone to deny the statements and add to an already damaged immigrant reputation. President Trump seems to think this wall is another Lego piece puzzle but it’s more than that.
Living in a bordertown, you live in two worlds. You live in a world where you go to school, hang out with your friends but you also live in a world where one step leads you to a new reality. Living next to Mexico, we’re surrounded by culture but also by family. Closing the border, even temporarily, affects the livelihood of everyone on either side of it. When interviewed by Rivlin-Nadler, 45-year-old Imperial Valley resident Enrique Javier states,"The marketplace would be affected, the taxi companies, the buses, everything would be impacted that works with Mexicans” (Javier). We’re like a team, we can’t win if we don’t work together. To put this in terms the president may understand, we have partnership and we both can’t succeed without the other.
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Many of us depend on the border to help us stay in touch with our world on the other side. Like myself, most of the residents here in Calexico have family members that live in Mexico and/or have business in Mexico. Whether it is spending the night out in the town or going to a family reunion, the border has always made staying in touch with those far away easier. If we got our window to home closed, most of us wouldn’t know what to do. When interviewed by Rivlin-Nadler, Heber resident Edgar Godinez says, “I wouldn't be able to see my son if they do that. I might have to stay in Mexico to stay with my son” (Godinez). Taking away our connection would be heartbreaking. President Trump can keep saying the wall will keep trouble out but it will not solve anything.
Here’s the reality of our situation: there is going to be a wall. The government was shut down for 25 days because they couldn't find funding for the wall. The irony is this is not the first time the President of the United States has done work on immigration reform. However, this is the first time, at least in my lifetime, that a president has gone back and forth about his campaign message. It’s no secret that President Trump was a businessman before becoming a man of politics. Running a country is not the same as running a business. When you’re business goes under, you deal with the after shock. When you’re country goes down, we all have to pick up the pieces.